The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has welcomed the dismissal of a Pretoria teacher who was caught on video slapping a grade R pupil (5) several times.

Reports say it took a protest by parents to get the department of education in Gauteng to suspend the educator who was filmed while allegedly meting out corporal punishment to a grade R pupil.

The teacher from Nchuncheko Primary School in Soshanguve trended on social media after a video of her emerged beating a grade R learner.

The little boy in the video can be heard crying in the clip while the woman hit him several times on his head.

The provincial department said the teacher was immediately removed from the school and was reported to the district office pending a disciplinary hearing on Monday.

Mabona said a disciplinary hearing held on Monday found the teacher guilty and recommended her immediate dismissal.

Mabona said the teacher was on Tuesday served with the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.

“We can confirm that the disciplinary process, which was instituted upon finding out about the video, took place on Monday. The process was concluded with the immediate dismissal verdict of the grade R practitioner,” said Mabona.

“As the GDE, we are fully behind the school’s decision to dismiss the practitioner as it sends out a strong message to everyone working with learners at our schools never to use violence as a form of disciplinary measure,” said Mabona. 

He added that the department’s psycho-social unit has been dispatched to the school to offer counselling to the affected learner.

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NYAKALLO TEFU| 

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has said it is all systems go for the May/June National Senior Certificate examinations (NSC) for the 2021 academic year. 

Learners across the country will start their exams on Wednesday and finish on 7 July, said Minister Angie Motshekga. Motshekga added that the exams will take place over a 6 week period.

The May/June National Senior Certificate examinations were initially set to start on May 5 but were postponed to May 26.

Motshekga said this was recorded as the largest examination to ever be administered in the country’s history.

“Its all systems go and everything is in place,” said DBE spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga. 

In 2020, learners across the country were not able to sit down for their May/June examinations due to the country being under a hard lockdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Instead, the DBE combined the May/June exams with the November/December ones which saw a total number of 1,058,699 learners sitting to write between 5 November until 15 December. 

The department said accountancy learners will sit for paper one of the subject.

“The measures that the DBE used in 2020 for the November examinations will be used again this year for the May/June exams,” said Mhlanga. 

Social distancing is one of the basic requirements and learners including staff following the Covid-19 regulations.

“We are confident that the exams will proceed as planned,” added Mhlanga.

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The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) has urged all its eligible members to get vaccinated. This is because there is still no information on when wall teachers will become eligible for the jab.

Research shows that over 3500 teachers have died from coronavirus related complications country wide.

Mugwena Maluleke, SADTU general secretary said the union is very clear about their position that all teachers have to be vaccinated. We are also encouraging all those teachers who are eligible for vaccination to register.

“We have said please allow yourself and take that particular decision as an individual to be vaccinated because we need to save lives,” said Maluleke.

Maluleke added that there has been constant communication with teachers from the union to get vaccinated.

He added: “We have communication with the department of [basic] education. The Department of Education is not responsible for vaccinations and therefore, we need to be able to send a very clear message to the National Command Council that is responsible for this as well as those responsible for the vaccine.

“We are working day and night to make sure that the message is sent through to say enough is enough, we cannot have our children not being taught because the teachers are not well,” said Maluleke.

Maluleke added that the union believed that teachers would be the next group vaccinated after healthcare workers and that the vaccine rollout has been confusing.

“We are demanding for a date for teacher vaccinations to take place and we encourage teachers to register,” he said.

The call to prioritize teachers in Covid-19 education responses is not new.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also urged all countries to prioritize teachers in national COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans to ensure education can continue safely and schools remain open.  

As early as March 2020, the International Taskforce on Teachers for Education 2030 launched an international Call for Action on Teachers to highlight critical measures that countries should take to support teachers in the global pandemic, including the “protection of teachers’ and students’ health, safety and well-being”.

This was reaffirmed during the Extraordinary session of the Global Education Meeting, convened by UNESCO in October 2020, where Heads of State and Ministers committed to support all teachers and education personnel as frontline workers, and to prioritize their health and safety.

On 14 December 2020, UNESCO and Education International urged countries to include teachers as a priority group in national vaccination rollout plans to curb the spread of Covid-19 and protect teachers and students in an effort to ensure the continuation of learning and a safe return to in-person teaching.

However, this has still not been done in South Africa.

Maluleke said SADTU has been patient given that healthcare workers needed to be first prioritised, “but now government needs to provide clearer communication on what’s next”.

The general secretary said teachers are also front-line workers.

Professor Mary Metcalfe said anyone can register “now” for the vaccination.

“We need to push for a special registration category for teachers and to prioritize their vaccination.

“We will soon know when teachers are able get the vaccine as a group and as front-line critical workers serving the national interest,” she said.

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The 38-year-old teacher accused of raping a grade 10 pupil from Umqele Secondary School’s case has been remanded for 27 May for the bail application process.

Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) MEC Panyaza Lesufi said any educator or official who preys on learners has no place in the education system.

Lesufi said all educators and officials have a sacrosanct duty of ensuring learners placed in their care are safe and protected.

Lesufi said this at the Tembisa Magistrate court last Thursday where the teacher suspected of rape made his first court appearance.

“We will continue to support the victim and all affected by this alleged incident.

“We can only imagine the anger and disappointment the family of the learner is going through following the betrayal of their trust by a person they trusted,” said Lesufi.

Inside Education reported last week that the teacher went on the run for several days since the alleged incident occurred on the school property. The man only handed himself over to the police on Wednesday last week.

GDE Spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department can confirm the suspect tendered a letter of resignation which will undergo all the necessary departmental processes.

At the time, GDE said the man will also be charged with absconding as he had left work without permission.

Meanwhile the South African Human Rights Commission in Limpopo conducted a three-day provincial hearing into bullying, corporal punishment and sexual assault by educators in the province.

The hearings were held following the passing of teenage Lufuno Mavhunga who committed suicide after being bullied by another pupil.

During its three-day hearing in the province this week, the commission heard how incidents of bullying, sexual assault and heavy-handed educators were often swept under the carpet by teachers or other authorities.

According to the South African Council of Educators (SACE) representative, George Moroasui, South Africa recorded 209 cases of corporal punishment and 122 cases of sexual abuse of learners by teachers in 2019.

Moroasui said SACE still finds it difficult to get information from the Department of Education of teachers practicing corporal punishment and those who have previous cases of sexual relationships with learners against them.

Adding that at times school management and school governing bodies hide such cases instead of reporting them to the police.

South Africa Principals Association’s Mashudu Ramulumo reported at the hearings that many pupil-teacher sex cases not reported by principals.

Ramulumo said only those principals who were bold enough to implement policy are the ones who come forward and report.

“Yes, it is true. So many cases are not reported. Some principals do not have the right skills to compile a case to report to the department,” he said.

Mamahloli Masipa, the child protection manager at Save the Children SA added that corporal punishment continues to be used at these schools.

Masipa said her organisation works with a number of schools around Limpopo and they have discovered that principals choose to hide incidents of violence at their schools.

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The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson, Ernest Khosa, said the funding scheme’s student-centred model is one of the reasons for delays in funding decisions including appeals processing and disbursements.

This comes after many students from different higher education institutions across the country took to social media to say they cannot afford food, pay for reading materials or attend classes because of delays in NSFAS payments.

NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo said NSFAS is continuing to receive registration data from institutions to process which will allow the funding scheme to be able to make more payments for students.

“The processing and disbursement of allowances to institutions to ensure that students do not sleep hungry has already commenced.

“However, we are aware of some delays in payments as a result of system integration challenges and delayed registration data that needs to be submitted by institutions,” said Nongogo.

Khosa said because of the student-centred model, the time it takes for appeals processing, disbursements, weak queries resolution mechanism, policy issues such as the N+ 2 rule, absentee parents, postgraduate funding, and student accommodation takes longer than it should.

The NSFAS board chairperson said the funding scheme’s organisational structure is not aligned to the student-centred model.

Khosa was speaking at a media briefing following the NSFAS Board address to the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology last week.

According to NSFAS, the briefing was on the important role the financial aid scheme has played in the country, as well as some of the problems encountered by the scheme.

 “We met with the portfolio committee today to discuss these issues,” said Khosa.

Khosa said it is public knowledge that in 2018, the scheme was converted into a fully bursary fund from being a provider of student loans.

He said given that there was a short time to execute this new mandate, the scheme was not appropriately designed and prepared to handle this change.

“Consequently, this led to operational challenges that are widely known, which ultimately contributed to the organisation being placed under administration,” said Khosa.

He said the lack of consequence management and the lack institutional performance management continue to mar the organisation.

He added that other challenges include negative audit outcomes as well as systems that are not fully responsive to the core business of the organisation.

“In today’s engagement with the portfolio committee, the board shared its strategies to address amongst other issues, the issues listed.

“On the student funding, we will support the work of the department of higher education and training in assessing funding mechanisms. Furthermore, the board is developing a fund-raising strategy.

“On the student-centred model, we have commissioned an application system and process that will make real time funding eligibility decisions,” said Khosa.

He added that appeals will be immediate for new students and for continuing students a new appeal portal will be introduced in the second semester which will assist in timely decision making.

However, despite these challenges, we have offered some strategies to resolve them to the portfolio committee. Adding that the scheme has also continued to grow in spite of these challenges.

He said 1 263 671 students have been assessed as eligible for funding in the current academic year.

He added that 712 428 of these students were first time higher education entry students and 551 243 were continuing students.

Of these figures, 940 226 students are at the country’s universities while 323 445 are registered with Technical and vocational education and training (TVETs).

“There were 254 826 students funded, and 40 564 graduates were produced in 2017. In 2018 these number grew by 41,84% leading to 361 449 students funded, and 59 249 graduates were produced. In the current tenure of the new board, we have higher achievements – 1 263 671 students have been assessed as eligible for funding,” said Khosa.

Khosa said the board was working with the department of higher education and training to explore some funding policy issues.

He said the board has also established the Human Resources, Ethics and Remuneration Committee, Operations Committee, ICT Steering Committee to dedicate attention to some of the challenges faced by the organisation.

Khosa said the NSFAS board has also dedicated attention to addressing negative audit outcomes.

“While there is still a need to improve the control environment, we will be in a position to submit our financial statements within the statutory deadlines,” said Khosa.

“However,” he warned, “it should be noted that some issues can only be fully resolved over a longer period,” he said.

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NYAKALLO TEFU| 

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has taken an about turn on its decision for schools across the country to commence with contact sports. 

On Wednesday, the DBE announced that all contact sports at schools across the country are cancelled with immediate effect. 

“The Council of Education Ministers has taken a decision to suspend all contact sports in schools with immediate effect,” said DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga. 

Mhlanga said the cancellation of contact sports comes after provinces such as Gauteng, North West and the Free State saw a rise in Covid-19 cases among learners. 

“It is evident that despite following the protocols as guided by the directions on extramural activities and standard operating procedure on the prevention, containment and management of Covid-19 in schools, contact sports events still contribute to the spread of Covid-19,” said Mhlanga.

Earlier this month, after learners returned to school for the second term, the DBE announced that following talks with stakeholders, an agreement was reached for contact sports to resume. 

At the time, DBE Minister Angie Motshekga said non-contact sport training in schools can continue provided that all social distancing, hygiene and safety measures are observed and that there is no physical contact between participants during training.

Motshekga said: “In 2021, after the reopening of schools and consultations with education stakeholders, the DBE gazetted directions allowing non-contact sport, sport-related activities and school-based art and cultural activities to resume without spectators, subject to adherence of safety measure.

Adding that the gazette included directions on school sports and extra mural activities, non-contact sport, sport-related activities and school-based art and cultural activities to resume subject to health and safety protocols. 

As a result of these school sports activities, related Covid-19 outbreaks in Gauteng, Free State and the North West saw a rise of cases in communities across the country.

Motshekga said the Outbreak Response Team told the council that the risk was high when engaged in close-contact sports, especially with people who do not live together.

Following this, DBE this week scheduled two meetings to discuss the impact of allowing contact sport activities to continue at schools.

The National Professional Teachers’ Organization of South Africa’s Basil Manuel said this decision is both positive and negative. 

“There are provinces that are experiencing an increase in infections, I think with those schools in mind, the decision taken makes sense, but I don’t think the decision should have been one-sided,” said Manuel.

Manuel said there are provinces that haven’t had a single outbreak, where infection rates are very low. 

“Yes, we want to protect, but we need to remember that sports have its own purposes, which is for the children to release all this testosterone,” said Manuel. 

“I understand the decision made by the DBE, but I do believe there could have been better ways to deal with this,” said Manuel. 

Mhlanga said the department will continue to monitor the situation at schools and until it indicates otherwise, there will be no contact sports until further notice. 

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Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has made a plea to law enforcement agencies to up the efforts in hunting a teacher who allegedly raped a learner at Umqhele Secondary School in Ivory Park.

The alleged rapist has since been on the run since the incident was reported to the District.

Lesufi said Gauteng Education became aware of the alleged rape of a Grade 10 learner when the matter was last Friday.

“We will immediately report him [the teacher] to all regulatory bodies and add the charge of absconding as well. And, as a precaution, that teacher will not report at school but at the District,” said Lesufi.

The MEC said The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) will not tolerate nor condone any sexual relations or harassment of learners by educators and any of our officials.

“We will never allow officials or educators to abuse the privilege given to us by millions of parents across the province of providing care to all young people in our education system,” said Lesufi.

It is alleged that the suspect was caught in the act by another teacher.

The learner was taken by the school principal to the doctor for medical examination on Friday.

Reports state that the learner’s parents have opened a case at the Ivory Park Police Station. The suspect has not reported for duty since the day of the incident and police are looking for him.

According to the Human Rights Watch, research done on schools across South Africa show how thousands of girls of every race and economic group are encountering sexual violence and harassment that impede their access to education .

Girls are learning that sexual violence and abuse are an inescapable part of going to school every day — so they don’t go,” said Erika George, counsel to the Academic Freedom Program at Human Rights Watch and the author of the report. “South African officials say they’re committed to educational equality. If they mean it, they must address the problem of sexual violence in schools, without delay.”

The 138-page report, “Scared at School: Sexual Violence Against Girls in South African Schools,” is based on extensive interviews with victims, their parents, teachers, and school administrators in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and the Western Cape. It documents how girls are raped, sexually abused, sexually harassed, and assaulted at school by their male classmates and even by their teachers.

According to the report, girls have been attacked in school toilet facilities, in empty classrooms and corridors, hostel rooms and dormitories. Teachers can misuse their authority to sexually abuse girls, sometimes reinforcing sexual demands with threats of corporal punishment or promises of better grades, or even money.

School authorities rarely challenge the perpetrators, and many girls interrupt their education or leave school altogether because they feel vulnerable to sexual assault, Human Rights Watch said.

According to media reports, learners at Umqhele Secondary School did not attend classes on Friday.

They held a protest with members of the community, COSAS, EFF, ANC and members from Break the Chain of Pain Against Women and Childern.

Members of COSAS also went to neighbouring schools asking that classes stop and the schools join in protest.

Lesufi said while he and his department appreciates the anger of young people in and around Ivory Park, “We call on the learners to put their faith in the justice system and desist from further disrupting schooling as the matter is being investigated”.

GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department has availed their Psycho-Social Unit to provide support to the affected learner and those at the school.

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Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Blade Nzimande presented the Department of Higher Education and Training Budget Vote 2021 to the National Assembly this week.

Nzimande said irrespective of the challenges the department had earlier this year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding has increased more than five-fold over the last six years.

He said in 2014 NSFAS funding sat at R5.9 billion and in 2020 is was at R34.7 billion.

“Irrespective of funding challenges, NSFAS funds have increased more than fivefold just in 6 years.

“In the current financial year, the 2021/2022 financial year, NSFAS funding is expected to reach more than R43 billion – a further increase of nearly R10 billion in just two years,” he said.

Nzimande said following the shortfall experienced by NSFAS earlier this year, his department reprioritised its budget to ensure that all deserving, NSFAS-qualifying students are able to receive funding for the 2021 academic year.

He said the budget for the post-school and training sector was just over R115 billion and that the budget allocated for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college sector is at R13 billion.

Nzimande said in support of the expansion of access to the post-school education and training (PSET) system, his department will award bursaries to PhD students, and will create a pipeline of postgraduate students.

He said his department will also place graduates and students in department-funded work preparation programmes in science, engineering, technology and innovation institutions in support of the initiatives towards ensuring the responsiveness of the PSET system.

“As a department, we remain committed to strengthening and developing the PSET sector by investing in infrastructure to provide quality teaching, learning and research and innovation spaces,” said Nzimande.

The Higher Education, Science and Innovation budget shows that R R115.596 868 billion has been allocated for the 2021/2022 financial year. Nzimande said this shows an annual average increase of 1,4% over the 2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) presented earlier this year by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

Nzimande said R230.7 million has been allocated for career development systems, community education and training has been allocated R2.422 billion. Adding that R504 million would go for towards administrative responsibilities, as well as goods and services,” said the minister.

He said R324 million was redirected to Covid-19-related responses. Nzimande said the national system of education and innovation has also been affected by Covid-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic has changed life as we know it but has also taught us vital lessons. One of the lessons is that investing in Science is vital for South Africa’s future and development,” he said.

He said R9.546 billion has been set aside for investment in infrastructure projects across the 26 universities during the 2021/22 to 2023/24 MTEF period.

Adding that his department will use the R9.546 billion amount to invest in infrastructure projects so that digital transformation take place at universities, refurbishment of university buildings, student housing and investing in facilities for strategic study fields required to be responsive to the strategic priorities of South Africa.

“We will continue to prioritise infrastructure development at historically disadvantaged universities to ensure that maintenance backlogs are addressed and the quality of infrastructure delivery management is improved at these institutions,” said Nzimande.

The minister said hid department’s budget was still not adequate at all and that budget cut was unfortunate.

“For instance, I would like to put more money into genomics surveillance on order to monitor the epidemiology of behaviour of the virus, including increasing bursaries and scholarships for masters and PhD students,” he said.

The budget cuts will also have implications for NSFAS. This year NSFAS received approximately 799 017 applications, with 67% of the new applicants being South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries.

“There are 11 329 appeals received from rejected new applicants. A great improvement for 2021 is that students who are rejected are able to appeal immediately,” said Nzimande.

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PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Professor Ibrahim Abubakar, on his appointment as the new Dean of the University College, London (UCL) Faculty of Population Health Sciences.

Abubakar is a world-leading scholar in the field of infectious disease epidemiology.

Buhari, in a statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Monday, expressed delight for the unflinching support Abubakar had provided to public health institutions in Nigeria.

He noted that Abubakar’s contributions had helped in achieving tangible results in the area of control and prevention of communicable diseases in the country.

Abubakar holds a Master of Science degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a DPH from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from the University of East Anglia.

According to the president, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) trained medical doctor, will bring his extensive wealth of experience and skills in public health to his new role.

Abubakar’s professional records span from his outstanding leadership at the Institute for Global Health in the last five years to extensive research in infectious disease epidemiology, migration and health.

This led to his election to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020.

President Buhari extended his best wishes to the ”unassuming achiever, widely admired by his peers, as he settles down to his new role from Aug. 1.”

The Guardian

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